In the story “The Necklace”, Guy DeMaupassant has a distinct perspective on the role of women in western culture back in his time. In this particular work of his, he portrays women as being equals to each other but not to men. Women don’t work, except the women who are poor clean the house, and cook the food. Essentially they are just a pretty face for their husbands to show off and only care about trivial things like clothes, jewelry, and money. In the last 100 years so much has changed. Today, women are so much more than that, we can work and be important individuals in society, but we still suffer from the societal view that all women have to be tiny, naturally pretty people who aren’t as strong as their male counterparts. As mentioned,
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Then after her husband gives her 400 francs to use on a dress, money that he had been saving for a new gun, she is still unhappy. She needs jewelry as well, because according to her, "I shall look absolutely no one. I would almost rather not go to the party." (3) Mathilde is still painted as a vain person, because as previously stated, women in the 19th century were not worth more than there looks. Instead of use flowers to accessorize with, she goes to her rich friend to borrow the most expensive looking necklace, because nothing else would have been good enough. According to the quote from the story:
“She danced madly, ecstatically, drunk with pleasure, with no thought for anything, in the triumph of her beauty, in the pride of her success, in a cloud of happiness made up of this universal homage and admiration, of the desires she had aroused, of the completeness of a victory so dear to her feminine …show more content…
Most obviously, society makes it seem as if all women have to offer is their beauty. This hasn’t been as widely seen in the last 5 years, but it’s still there. Girls are told they have to wear make up to be pretty, but not too much because then you’re fake. Girls are also told they have to be skinny, but if they are too skinny then they look sick and guys don’t want that. From the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch saying how he won’t make certain sizes because he thinks people of a certain size are ugly, to just the everyday people in a woman’s life, she gets told about how she should look, how she should act. Even in schools, there are double standards in dress codes where guys can wear tank tops, while a girl is pretty much a distraction to boys for wearing a tank top. It doesn’t matter if she is sent out of class, its broadcasting the message that a boy’s education is more important than hers. Instead of teaching the boys they shouldn’t be distracted by shoulders, they tell girls to cover up on a hot day. It’s definitely not to the extreme as it was in the 19th century, we can work alongside men, we get close to equal pay, but it’s not quite equal. A woman’s purpose is no longer to stay home to take care of the kids and to cook dinner for her family, though if she chooses to, she can. Women are politically equal to men, so we
Then after her husband gives her 400 francs to use on a dress, money that he had been saving for a new gun, she is still unhappy. She needs jewelry as well, because according to her, "I shall look absolutely no one. I would almost rather not go to the party." (3) Mathilde is still painted as a vain person, because as previously stated, women in the 19th century were not worth more than there looks. Instead of use flowers to accessorize with, she goes to her rich friend to borrow the most expensive looking necklace, because nothing else would have been good enough. According to the quote from the story:
“She danced madly, ecstatically, drunk with pleasure, with no thought for anything, in the triumph of her beauty, in the pride of her success, in a cloud of happiness made up of this universal homage and admiration, of the desires she had aroused, of the completeness of a victory so dear to her feminine …show more content…
Most obviously, society makes it seem as if all women have to offer is their beauty. This hasn’t been as widely seen in the last 5 years, but it’s still there. Girls are told they have to wear make up to be pretty, but not too much because then you’re fake. Girls are also told they have to be skinny, but if they are too skinny then they look sick and guys don’t want that. From the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch saying how he won’t make certain sizes because he thinks people of a certain size are ugly, to just the everyday people in a woman’s life, she gets told about how she should look, how she should act. Even in schools, there are double standards in dress codes where guys can wear tank tops, while a girl is pretty much a distraction to boys for wearing a tank top. It doesn’t matter if she is sent out of class, its broadcasting the message that a boy’s education is more important than hers. Instead of teaching the boys they shouldn’t be distracted by shoulders, they tell girls to cover up on a hot day. It’s definitely not to the extreme as it was in the 19th century, we can work alongside men, we get close to equal pay, but it’s not quite equal. A woman’s purpose is no longer to stay home to take care of the kids and to cook dinner for her family, though if she chooses to, she can. Women are politically equal to men, so we